Michael Dell would be forgiven for feeling a little nervous this morning. The billionaire technology entrepreneur, who founded Dell computers while he was a student, will today find out whether he will retain control of the company that has been his life's project or face the prospect of being cast out in the cold.

The former University of Texas undergraduate laid out his plans to take Dell private in February, with a $24.4bn (£16.2bn) bid backed by Silver Lake, the private equity firm.

The computer empire may have been founded on robust, inexpensive PCs but global demand for any kind of desktop computer is ebbing away and Mr Dell wants to manage its evolution into a cloud–computing and consultancy business away from the glare of quarterly results.

Its directors were quick to throw their weight behind his plan, recommending his bid to shareholders and writing in a $450m break fee in the event that the deal is derailed. But not everyone is on board.

Over the past five months, Carl Icahn, the activist investor, has waged war against Mr Dell's takeover scheme, which he claims is an "insult" to shareholders and trades their company away too cheaply. In May he proposed an alternative plan, backed by Southeastern Asset Management, which would offer investors the chance to take some of their money off the table at $14–a–share, at the same time as ensuring Dell remained a public company.

Dell may be going through a tough time at the moment but it has the potential to turn around and shareholders should be able to participate in that, Mr Icahn argued.

He was unsparing in his criticism for Dell's directors. "We are often cynical about corporate boards but this board has brought that cynicism to new heights," he wrote in a blistering open letter. "We want this board to hear ... loud and clear that it was insulting to shareholders' intelligence for the board to tell them that this board only has the best interests of shareholders at heart, and then accept Michael Dell's offer [at] a price far below what we consider its value to be."

The directors asked Mr Dell to consider upping his offer but he demurred.

Mr Icahn has so far raised more than $5bn to finance his plan. If he succeeds in derailing Mr Dell's bid, it is clear that he will use his new power to shake up the company's board and potentially oust the entrepreneur. It remains a closely fought tug of war, with both sides lining up some powerful muscle.

Blackrock, which has a 4.4pc stake in Dell and was at one stage weighing its own bid for the company, has voted down Mr Dell's proposal. It adds weight to no–votes from the California State Teachers' Retirement System, which controls nearly $167bn of funds, and Mr Icahn and Southeastern who together own a 13pc stake.

However, Mr Dell has powerful backers of his own, including the unlikely support of Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis, America's two biggest investor advisory firms. ISS tends to be sceptical about low–ball offers but, in a surprise move that is likely to have reinforced many investors' fears that Dell's best days are far behind it, the advisory firm cautioned shareholders to weigh his relatively modest bid against the likelihood of a successful turnaround. If Dell faces serious structural issues, ISS argued, Mr Dell deserves a discount for shouldering that risk alone.

With that behind him, the odds are on investors backing Mr Dell's takeover bid when they vote on the matter at a special shareholder meeting today. Many of them feel they have little choice. Besides the $450m break fee, a no–vote at this stage would send Dell lurching into paralysis, during which time the business stands to unravel further. The board has also warned that shares are likely to fall in value in the so–called "gap period" between today's vote and the next shareholder meeting where Dell's ownership will be discussed.

Mr Icahn is not prepared to throw the towel in just yet, however. Last week, he enhanced his bid for the company by offering a warrant which could add another $4 to his offer if Dell meets certain conditions. This week he accused Dell of using "scare tactics" to bounce investors into accepting Mr Dell's deal.

"It seems to me that the Dell board has shamelessly attempted to frighten stockholders throughout this process. But the scary facts they bring up are often the result of Dell's own actions," he wrote.

For Mr Dell, there is another scarier fact of his own making. If he loses today's vote, far from tightening his grip on the company he has devoted his life to, he could lose control of it altogether.